Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c10.101

c10.101

In selecting the method of proving the nature of the case and the competence of the court shall be taken into consideration. Thus in the case of a breach of promise, resumption of a gift, recission of a purchase or a sale, dispute about property, gambling and wagers, only the proof by means of witnesses is resorted to. On the other hand, in the case of disputes about setting and using a gate or a road or a canal, possession alone is the decisive factor. The arbitration courts of the castes, corporations, etc. shall allow only documents as means of proof. In serious criminal cases or when crimes which were committed in secret or a long time ago have to be investigated or when the case concerned is about the denial of a deposit or the genuineness of a document or the validity of the deposition of a witness, etc.—in all these cases only oaths or ordeals are admissible. In the case of suits about debts documents, witnesses, circumstantial evidence or ordeals are allowed; no ordeals are allowed in law-suits about immovable properties (Kāty. 9, 1ff.¹; Nār. 1, 241 f.; Bṛh. 13, 2f.; 17 etc.). Of course, these rules are not to be taken literally; they are to be regarded as advices for the judges.